How can I Switch Between Decks A / B / C / D with one TRAKTOR KONTROL D2?

TRAKTOR KONTROL D2 is designed to fully integrate in a 4-Deck TRAKTOR setup consisting of two units: one to control the left-hand side Decks A (Track Deck) and C (Remix Deck), and another one to control the right-hand side Decks B (Track Deck) and D (Remix Deck). However, it is possible to switch between the left-hand side and the right-hand side with only one TRAKTOR KONTROL D2 unit, allowing you to control a classic Track Deck A-B setup. This article explains how to operate one TRAKTOR KONTROL D2 unit to control any of the four Decks. For this explanation we will focus on a classic 2-Deck A-B setup. In order to switch between Decks A and B, hold down the DECK button and press either the A or B button in the Deck Assignment area directly above the FX SELECT button. When the Deck focus is switched from one side (e.g. Deck A) to the other (e.g. Deck B), the display on your TRAKTOR KONTROL D2 will show the data (Deck letter, waveform, loops, Remix Deck cells, etc.) of the Deck currently in focus even if the opposite Deck is still playing. By switching back and forth between Decks you will be able to play back and control both Decks.

Note: With the DECK + *deck letter* button combination, you can immediately switch focus to any of the four Decks, including the lower Decks C and D.

Please be aware of the following restrictions when switching a TRAKTOR KONTROL D2 between Decks A and B:

The FX section on top of the unit (FX knobs, FX buttons and FX Select area) is hardwired to one specific side of TRAKTOR: FX Unit 1 to the left side of TRAKTOR and FX Unit 2 to the right side. When switching between Decks A and B, please be aware of the following behavior:

When DECK is not additionally held down, the Deck letter buttons on the Deck Assignment area will act as FX Assign buttons for the corresponding Deck. If, for instance, your Deck focus is currently Deck B and you wish to route FX Unit 1 to Deck B, you first need to switch Deck focus to the left-hand side (A or C) by pressing DECK + A (or C) and then press the B button. The FX Unit 1 will now be affecting the audio of Deck B. You may switch Deck focus back to this Deck.

The same applies for all four FX knobs and buttons that control different parameters of the FX Unit. You first need to switch the Deck focus in order to adjust these parameters.

If you wish to control the parameters of a given FX Unit after having adjusted the parameters of the opposite FX Unit, be aware that the knobs won't send any control change information until their position on the hardware has matched the last position on the software. This behavior is called soft takeover and it prevents from sudden jumps in the value of a given parameter.

The display on the TRAKTOR KONTROL D2 allows you to visualize the waveform (or Remix Deck samples) of two Decks at the same time using the Split View button. However, the split only works vertically between upper Deck (e.g. Deck A) and lower Deck (e.g. Deck C). It is not possible to visualize the waveforms / samples of Decks A and B (or Decks C and D) simultaneously on the display.

When a Deck Assignment button is not additionally pressed, the DECK button also enables you to switch Deck focus. However, this switch only works vertically between upper and lower Deck. It is not possible to use the DECK button to switch Deck focus across Decks A and B (between left and right).